The present invention relates to electronic nanodevices, and more specifically, to a device for conducting electricity through a single molecule and methods of fabricating the device.
The current state of nanotechnology has allowed for the possibility of manufacturing electronic devices for applications on a molecular scale, including for example, devices for characterizing electrical properties of single molecules and devices that use single molecules in electronic applications. In exemplary molecular-scale devices, molecules may be inserted into a gap between ends of carbon nanotube (CNT) segments and coupled to the CNT ends to complete an electrical circuit. One of the primary difficulties in manufacturing these devices on the molecular scale is controlling the formation of the molecular-sized gaps between the ends of the CNT segments, often on the order of 1 to 10 nanometers (nm). One method uses lithography to pattern and etch a gap from a single carbon nanotube. However, lithographic methods are generally unstable at this length scale (less than 10 nm) and tend to produce gaps at random locations along the CNT and of varying gap sizes. As a result, lithography and etching on this length scale produces only a small yield of functioning devices.